3 Days Exploring Stockholm in Winter: Cold Weather, but with Warm Vibes

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3 Days to Experience Stockholm in Winter

Stockholm in winter probably doesn’t sound very appealing to those looking to maximize activity in a brand-new city. But despite the short daylight hours, there’s plenty to do!

With the right itinerary—like this itinerary—you can pack in enough charm, history, and culture to make just two or three days in Stockholm feel surprisingly full.

I’ve also included some alternative options from our backup plans and prior research, in case you want to get a different taste of Stockholm than we did.

Note: We visited Stockholm in February 2025, so the days weren’t extremely short, with sunset being around 4:30 pm. It’s always a good bet to double-check the hours of your top museum/attraction choices before your trip!

Day 1: A Taste of Stockholm Public Transportation

This was more of a travel and settle-in kind of day. We flew into Stockholm from Helsinki and made our way into the city via public transportation.

Using the Stockholm public transport system doubled our travel time compared to if we went with the more popular – but far more expensive – option, the Arlanda Express. But since we were planning on buying the Stockholm Travelcard anyway, paying for the Arlanda Express just didn’t make financial sense.

Our Stockholm Travelcard allowed unlimited travel on almost all of the city’s public transportation – for 72 hours of our first time using it, anyway.

They also have Travelcard fare options for as short as 24 hours, 7 days, and even up to 1 whole year!

A bus, a train, and a short walk later, we (finally!) reached our hotel in Stockholm. We generally like to walk around and explore the immediate area of our hotel, so we can get familiar with it in case we get lost. Regardless, it’s a good way to orient ourselves in a new city. 

We chose a more cost-effective option since we knew we had some wiggle room in terms of time in Stockholm, with 2 full days to just explore the city. If it were any shorter, we probably would’ve opted to take the Arlanda Express to hit the ground running, as it were.

If we had been trying to cram in even more sightseeing, we could’ve stopped at Östermalm circle (Karlaplan), or even the Historiska Museet (Swedish History Museum). But we weren’t that crazy.

Day 2: Museum Day

After crossing the Djurgårdsbron (The Djurgården Bridge) from the North side, there are plenty of museums, parks, and restaurants to sample.

My husband, a fan of nautical and maritime history (alright, and history in general), chose most of the museums in our Stockholm itinerary.

The Vasa was a 17th-century warship that’s almost entirely intact. It’s a powerful statement of maritime power, and the intricate carvings that cover the entire ship offer a very detailed glimpse into 17th-century craftsmanship and shipbuilding.

Find a more in-depth look at the Vasa museum on my blog post about Stockholm museums!

Vrak was the most technologically forward museum we visited, but also the smallest. Though that’s not to say they have the least to offer – on the contrary, the Museum of Wrecks has managed to pack quite a lot of intrigue in a delightfully compact package!

Find a more in-depth look at the Museum of Wrecks on my blog post about Stockholm museums!

This place is massive, so plan accordingly. The Nordic Museum is also Sweden’s largest museum dedicated to cultural history. They showcase the life and people of the Nordic region over the past 500 years, housing extensive collections that reflect Nordic life, traditions, practices, and even fashion!

Find a more in-depth look at the Nordic Museum on my blog post about Stockholm museums!

Alternative Museum Options 1

If maritime history isn’t your thing, here are some alternative museums. These are the options along or close to the Djurgårdsvägen road.

• The Viking Museum – For some, it’s not a complete trip to Scandinavia without learning about (or at least viewing) its Viking culture. 
• Spritmuseum (Museum of Spirits) – Contrary to the spooky name, this is not a haunted tour or ghost museum. Instead, it’s a museum dedicated to the Swedish drinking culture. Not something I didn’t realize needed its own museum, but then again, I’m not much for drinking. 
• Liljevalchs – A public museum for contemporary art. This museum was included in our original itinerary as a backup option, thanks to free admission on Mondays. However, since we ended up buying the Vasa + Vrak combo ticket, we skipped it in favor of the Nordic Museum (a higher priority). 
• ABBA the Museum – While I like their music well enough, checking out a museum dedicated to ABBA’s collected work was not my cup of tea – or, in honor of Sweden’s fika culture, not my cup of coffee.
• Skansen-Akvariet (Skansen Aquarium) – This was comparatively out of the way compared to the above options. They advertise that they are “the world’s most unique aquarium.” Apart from fish and other aquatic and amphibious animals, they also house small mammals, spiders, and parrots. While I usually enjoy visiting aquariums all around the world, this was unfortunately not enough of a priority this trip.
• Skansen – Conveniently located right next to the Skansen Aquarium, but with its own ticket. It’s the oldest open-air museum, which also includes access to the Baltic Sea Science Center and the Children’s Zoo.

Alternative Museum Options 2

But if you’re looking for a more traditional museum experience, like paintings & sculptures, then the National Museum and/or the Modern Museum might be for you!

• National Museum – Our first go-to museum, if my husband and I travel back to Sweden. It was top of our “Maybe” list to visit if we had time, but we vastly underestimated how massive the Nordic Museum was. We considered checking out the next day as well, but we also got tired after walking around Gamla Stan.
• Moderna Museet – This was my pick as a backup museum, since I tend to prefer contemporary art. But since none of our first choices were unexpectedly closed, we never got around to this.
• Stockholm Toy Museum – If I ever come back to Sweden with kids of my own, this museum would probably be the first to go on our itinerary.
• Skeppsholmen Viewpoint – This was on our backup list mainly since, being a scenic spot, there were no operating hours to consider. 
• Kastellet Stockholm – This was low on our list since I’m not 100% sure if we could enter. It’s listed as a historical landmark, and could host a conference, events, and has a restaurant. But it was on the list anyway since it looked like a great spot to take sunset photos.

Day 3: Exploring Gamla Stan

We enjoyed another (included!) breakfast at our hotel. Afterwards, we took two buses to head southwest towards, but not directly to Gamla Stan. Instead, we took a slight detour before walking and taking a scenic route towards our destination. Since we weren’t in a particular rush, we got to enjoy some of the views on the way to Gamla Stan.

Nestled in a garden, but right by a main road, it’s easily accessible! You can do a quick view, or take advantage of the nearby cafés in the area and enjoy your drink on one of the many benches to take it in. 

Gamla Stan is Stockholm’s oldest settlement, complete with old town aesthetic: narrow cobblestone streets, mustard-yellow buildings, and uphill both ways! Alright, not literally uphill all the time, but enough.

Towering over tourists and traffic stops alike was a statue of Gustav III. Also nearby is his obelisk.

Dramatically imposing, a statue of Karl XIV Johans astride his horse.

A very…upright monument to Gustav III. His obelisk is only about 0.20km or 200 meters from his statue.

The Storkyrkan Cathedral requires an admission fee to view the contained artifacts and a statue of St. George & the Dragon.

The Royal Palace is located in the island of Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s oldest settlement. It functions both as a working palace and a museum, and much of it is open year-round to visitors. But since it’s also technically a workplace, there might be times when certain areas (especially the various apartments) would be closed to the public. 

Find a more in-depth look at the Royal Palace on my blog post about Stockholm museums!

Overall, it seems like a lot, but most of the items from this day are outdoor statues/sculptures. So, unless it’s something or someone you’re really into, it won’t take up most of your time.

Alternative Options in Gamla Stan

If you’re looking for indoor activities instead, the first three alternative options are for you! On the other hand, if you’re looking for even more free options, then check out the last two.

• Riddarholmen Church – Tangentially connected to the Royal Palace, as it’s been used as a burial site. If it was included with our tickets, I probably would’ve checked it out – but since it had its own (admittedly low) admission fee, we gave it a pass.
• Nobel Prize Museum – If you’re into trivia or just enjoy looking at the bright side of global achievement, this is the stop for you!
• Post Museum – Not my cup of coffee, but I’ve heard of enough stamp collectors to know that this is clearly a vibe for a lot of people.
• Mårten Trotzigs gränd (Stockholm’s narrowest street) – Not for the claustrophobic, but it’s a free option nonetheless.
• Self-guided walk around Gamla Stan – with its old town charm, just walking around is an experience in itself. Not to mention free! At least, outside of spontaneous stops for hot chocolate and souvenirs.

This was pretty much the only need-to-visit I contributed in our entire Stockholm itinerary. I didn’t even care whether we visited for breakfast, lunch, fika, or dinner as long as we went. I even made sure to note on our itinerary that the Östermalms food hall is closed on Sundays so that we didn’t accidentally go on a wrong day and be devastated.

Day 4: Goodbye, Stockholm

Alas, our time in Stockholm had to end at some point. So after one last breakfast at our hotel, we rolled our suitcases along Stockholm’s streets one more time towards Stockholm Central Station.

From previous travel experiences, navigating international travel in a different country can be a little tricky. So we made sure to be at the Central Station by 9:30 am at the latest, in anticipation of our 10:30 am train to Oslo, Norway.

Whatever your travel plans are, departing Stockholm, research ahead of time and plan accordingly!

The Takeaway (Besides Souvenirs)

Was 3 days in Stockholm enough? Surprisingly, yes.

Our itinerary gave us enough time to enjoy the main points of interest at each museum we visited, with the choice of lingering or simply glancing at other exhibits. It was also extremely convenient that a lot of museums were clustered together.

Stockholm is a very walkable city, and despite it being winter, I didn’t get a gloomy vibe at all. There was still so much to do and see inside their museums, cafés, and even random pubs. Just don’t forget to bring comfy, waterproof (or at least water-resistant) shoes!

Granted, given the opportunity, I would also love to go back during summer to see it in a whole different light (literally!) just to see how the city and its architecture change with the return of vibrant greenery and vivid flowers.